Doha, January 05 (QNA) - The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding has announced that nominations for its 12th edition are now open and running until March 31, 2026.

The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding is an independent worldwide translation award and is the most important and largest prize dedicated to translation between the Arabic language and various world languages.

The award aims to support translators and recognize their pivotal role in building bridges amongst peoples.

Launched in 2015, the award seeks to advance translation between Arabic and other world languages in a systematic and sustainable manner, and to contribute to raising the standards of translation and Arabization based on quality, accuracy, and intellectual value. It also aims to support cultural exchange and dialogue between Arab societies and other communities through translation.

In a statement issued Monday, the award called on translators and translation-related institutions around the world to submit their nominations before the deadline, noting that applications are accepted exclusively through filling the electronic form available on the award's official website (www.hta.qa).

The award had previously announced the 12th edition's languages and categories in order to give translators and relevant institutions a longer period to prepare their nomination portfolios, thereby enhancing the quality of nominated works and reinforcing the award's professional and systematic character.

The award includes a single book category, for which Mandarin Chinese was selected alongside English (a constant in all editions) among the most widely spoken languages.

Mandarin Chinese returns to the award after being featured in two previous editions, underscoring the growing momentum in translation between the two languages.

The value of the prizes for the top three positions in each single book category is USD 200,000.

In the achievement category, which honors long-term cumulative efforts in the field of translation by individuals and institutions, five languages have been selected: Italian, Azerbaijani, and Fula (Fulani), in addition to English and Mandarin Chinese.

The value of the achievement award in each category is USD 100,000. (QNA)